Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Does anybody else just "go for a ride"?

One of things Wifey and I really enjoy is hopping in the car and just driving, not really worried about when we'll get home.
One of the best things about living in rural Pennsylvania is the number of rural roads along the mountains and through the valleys. We like to drive around an hour or two before sunset, just sightseeing, especially this time of year with the leaves changing. You always see wildlife, and occasionally something you can't see anywhere else.
There's plenty of roads in this area that you can get lost on. You always come to someplace you know, but sometimes you just got no idea how you got there!
I said on different threads how much we enjoyed our time out west, but I don't think I'd trade these mountains, ridges and valleys for all the tea in China!
7mm

Sure, we do that. It's a favorite activity of geezers and geezerettes. Here in Wyoming, there are plenty of places to go "just for a ride". We have been known to drive 75 miles up to Dubois to have breakfast at the Cowboy Cafe.

Yes. but did cut back some when fuel hit 50 cents a gallon.

I do, but she won't climb on the back of my Harley! Some of my "rides" take several days and cover hundreds of miles! I was "responsible" and didn't ride while the kids were growing up and needed my support and guidance. Now at age 73 it's my turn to play!
Jerry

Women used to take me on one or 3 fairly often..

That’s what the song, slow ride, is about!

bedford fulton and franklin counties are a gem. i have spent many a gallon of gas cruising around there. i can do a circle out of my camp that takes several hours and never hits a 4 lane road. i'll be squirellin' in the buchanan next saturday.

She wouldn't be good on a bike, because she's frequently a little nervous in a car.
My Mom was horrible like that, grabbing a hold of stuff and stomping the imaginary brake. Dad would take us boys and go. I remember one time Mom literally freaked out on a particularly steep road with no guardrail. Penny ain't that bad, but I know she'd never be able to relax on a motorcycle. One of the greatest things about living among the Alleghenies is also one of the things that make passengers nervous!
Occasionally we'll toss a suitcase in and head out to God knows where, but mostly we'll end up 25 or 30 miles away, then drive home on normal routes. Sometimes the best therapy you can find is a couple gallons of gas and a couple of hours to burn it.
7mm

Some of my rides were when I thought I was going somewhere. direct.

Going for rides and exploring back roads was my favorite part of my job as a game warden. My wife and I just got back from a ride of 1700+ miles of Northern California also known as the free state of Jefferson. We started at Reno and made the obligatory visit to Yosemite but the rest of it was aimlessly cruising. The national forest outside Yosemite was interesting and there are a good many white hillbillies with their private junkyards interspersed within the government timber. A particularly scenic and breath taking ride was the single lane very steep sided Wards Ferry Road that we headed north on west of Yosemite. We toured the gold mining country and the vineyards, then the coast highway up to highway 36 across to Red Bluff, Shingletown, Lassen Volcano N.P., on down to Truckee and visited the Donner Memorial S.P. then we made a round of Tahoe and Carson City and Viginia City.

One time in my first marriage my brother and I were working on our racecars and needed some parts. It's Saturday afternoon, also her birthday.
That stuff frequently happens with Dave driving. I think we got home around 3 am. She totally didn't understand that "I was with Dave" is a valid excuse among us that know him!
7mm

In the city, "going for a ride" means something else entirely. Capiche?

My Labrador loves going for rides.

In the late 1970's, Antioch, Merced, and Watsonville California all had 1/4 mile dirt tracks. At the end of the season each track ran a 100-lap Open Competition race over a 3-day weekend, maybe Labor Day- - - - -no class rules, "Run What Ya Brung!"- - - - - -fun times!
Jerry

pretty much stopped going anywhere unless I need to

Yeah, we do. Wife is into birdwatching, so armed with bird books and binos, we often go for rides around the coastal areas along the Delaware Bay. Relatively cheap entertainment. I have another term for it, "scouting for deer."

We'll go look at the deer in the evening sometimes. About an hour loop generally will net a couple hundred game animals. Pronghorn, turkey, elk, two flavors of deer, maybe a moose, fox or pheasant too.

Used to all the time. Not now. Years of long commutes, heavy traffic practically everywhere you go, and high gas prices have put an end to that. Plus, the Secretary of War suffers from motion sickness, and that's no fun for either of us.

Take our 65 Mustang out for a weekend ride about once a month, when it is not so bloody hot!~ It is a time machine and we feel like we lose 30 years while driving it.